Turkey Stuffing

When it comes to turkey stuffing recipes, there are really no rules. After all, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals are built from a variety of flavors. Start with cubes of stale cornbread or sourdough, white or rye, then build up your flavor base. Giblets give stuffing a rich, earthy flavor; spicy Italian sausage livens things up. Fruit, like dried apricots or fresh apples, lends a floral sweetness, and herbs like parsley, sage, and thyme bring all of the elements together. What type of bread you use is up to you, but if you want a knockout stuffing for your feast, make your own stale bread cubes. Those pre-seasoned, perfectly square bagged stuffing mixes can't hold a candle to what you've got in your cupboards. And if you're a purist who likes to stuff the turkey (some claim that's the only way the dish earns the name "stuffing," otherwise it's "dressing"), always check the temp before you take it out of the oven - it needs to be 165 degrees to be completely safe.

While the turkey may be the centerpiece of your holiday feast, sometimes it's upstaged by what's inside the bird--the turkey stuffing, or dressing, as some people prefer to call it. Stuffing has been used for centuries in all types of foods, though it's hard to say for sure when knowing how to make turkey stuffing first became essential to creating a proper Thanksgiving feast. Classic turkey stuffing is made with bread, spices and herbs and stuffed inside the main cavity of the bird, though you can cook it separately in a casserole or baking dish, too.